The Santa Dash in Lanzarote

Lanzarote Marathon 

So with the Winter set in there is only one place to go to get a nice warm Marathon so Pete and I headed off from Bristol and hit the  Hotel Grand Teguise Playa.

After a few days aclimatising and drinking plenty we were joined by Tim Hawkins, race numbers were collected and Saturday came, Race Day, it started off great for running as we set out on the out and back race. We gave Tim a head start and when we were getting to the 10 - 11 mile point Tim was heading back, we told him he was joint 5th as he passed us. We decided not to catch him and when we finally finished he was sat on the pavement waiting for us. He managed 3rd place and 300 euro's better off. It was a great prize giving with dancing, music and a few girls dancing and the winner was also give a three pint glass full of Larger and 500 euro's. With a 10k and also a Half there is a race for all and there were 100's  of Brits out there running. 

We have already booked the Hotel for next year as it fills up early with one hotel already full.

  

Santa Dash

The Santa Dash has a new Race Director, a quiet young lady from Yeovil. Linsey and her Club helpers did a great job without the interference from Pete who was miles away.

Kirsty Norman was our first runner over the line and Trevor was our first male over the line so well done both of you. The full results can be seen here. Matt Driver was disqualified for being carried over the course by BMJ.

Meanwhile in Weston: 

From Kevin Stenner:

Running for club & Alzheimer's on the beach at Weston- Super- Mare Xmas Cracker 10k today Conditions very good with blue sky. My time 42 11.

From Kat

2 of us got to the Christmas cracker in WSM but only one ran! Well done Claire Hatherell on 55mins. 😄🏃🏻‍♀️
I fear I may be now suffering from plantar fascia wotsit thingy! Amongst other aches and pains! 😩

From 

Elizabeth Diamond

Well done all those that ran or helped with the Santa dash, sorry I missed it but I was doing the Santa snowflake challenge in Portsmouth. It involved a 1 mile run followed by a 10km and finished with a 5km. A medal for each distance with a fourth if you completed all 3 and they join together to make a giant snowflake.

Dark Nights

From Nathen:

The next night race is on Thursday and is the Dark Dart Dash with 5 and 10k versions. This is a race in the woods around Dartington College. You can normally enter on the night http://www.wildnightrun.co.uk/dark-dart-dash/

 if you fancy going obviously nothing stopping you signing up and driving down but we normally do organise car sharing etc and you could speak to one of the regulars like Anita, Rob, Matthew Driver, Katie (though she's not on this race) or myself about going.

Bovington Marathon

Nice gentle jog around Bovington Marathon. Not so much mud or deep puddles or hills (by WSR standard) as I was expecting. Ideal running conditions once the fog lifted. Thankfully I didn't get lost or do extra loops where the signs had been removed/moved. Well done to all Yeovil runners completing both the marathon and half marathon. Yet another good day out with WSR; well done Andy Palmer and his team for yet another very well organised day.

Marathon:  Full Results

1. Jez Bragg, 03:08:21
8. Lucy Richens, 03:24:45
11. Paul Allen, 03:27:17
37. Jon Crane, 03:46:05
63. Nathan Gardiner, 04:02:53
186. Lesley Nesbitt, 05:02:29
235. Luck Hicks, 05:25:21
290. Richard Dodge, 05:53:49
306. Chris Woodman, 06:05:33

Half Marathon:  Full Results

333. Anita Rufus, 02:42:53
334. Catherine Hansford, 02:42:53
507. Kate Harris, 04:00:45
508. Katie Brooks, 04:00:45

Night Out

From Katie:

BING BONG - Club night out this Friday 19.30 in Woods bar in Yeovil. All welcome. Hope to see you then. BONG BING 

Marathon Mike

Another history lesson and a nice run too-The Richmond Marathon

Shorter days pull the temp below 30 degrees with lower humidity, and so the marathon season in the southern half of the country gets going again after the summer break. Off we went to Richmond for a long weekend, not the “Great Park” one by the Thames, but the one in Virginia by the side of the James River, a onetime home of Arthur Ashe, the tennis player who in 1975 was the first black man to win Wimbledon, and the writer Edgar Allen Poe. There’s much history here, some of the first English colonists settled in the area about 400 years ago, and the War of Independence is rooted close by. Richmond is the current capital of Virginia; it was also the capital of the Confederate States during the American Civil War, home to the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. There is a large statue of him on Monument Avenue, along with Stonewall Jackson and Robert E Lee, famous Generals in the Confederate Army. Poe didn’t get one as the council considered him a disreputable character, but there is a museum containing much of his original writings, and a pub bearing his name.

                After picking up race packets on Friday and our long-sleeve technical (i.e. polyester) shirts, we walked around some of the city. Actually Richmond is not so far south; the locals still wear some of those strange clothes called coats and gloves. The city is very clean and well kept, a college town containing many fine old buildings, the main professions now are State government, banking and law. Tobacco was the main industry for many years; the first cigarette rolling machine was invented here. Most of that industry has gone now, but the large brick-built factories located on the river front where the barges used to off-load the tobacco coming in from the plantations are still there, now converted into trendy apartments.

                The marathon was held on Saturday and had a little over 4,000 runners, a tad more than my last adventure at Burton Bradstock.  It was a cloudless sunny day, breezy and 4 degrees at the start. The course was a single undulating lap with a good mixture of city sights, affluent suburbs, parks and riverside trails which were very picturesque with the autumn foliage. The course crossed the river twice on never-ending bridges having panoramic views, and the last half mile or so to the finish was down a steep hill, akin to Hendford Hill, where there was the usual medal, a baseball hat and even an awesome blanket. Crowd support was tremendous all the way round even though it must have been chilly for them. Then came the usual after-race party by the river with a blues band, free beer and pizza, it was just warm enough by then to sit in the sunshine on the grass and enjoy it.

We visited the Williamsburg Colony the day after, about an hour’s drive from Richmond. Founded in 1632, it was the original capital of the Colony of Virginia until 1780 and the centre of political events leading to the American Revolution. They’ve done a good job of preserving the original buildings and streets which are occupied by dozens of “citizens” dressed in period costume. It was a good 2 hour walk to get round, an ideal way to loosen up the legs.

                 Just worked out that’s a marathon done in 18 different States, wondering if it’s too late to become a 50-Stater??

From James Day

Its been 656 days since I last ran in YTRRC colours. This morning at Oxford parkrun I have started running again!   3 miles is a long way (never thought i'd say that!) and with a mile to go it was obvious I had no stamina. With no 'killer hill' at the end I plodded on in a time of 23:54. It's good to be back ...

Club Events

1. Tuesday Club Night is at YTFC 6:15 pm 20th Dec

2.  Thursday Pub run is at The Bell in Ash at 6:30pm

3.  Track night on Friday at 6:15pm  

4.  The Sunday Short Run will be Goldenstones 9:00 am

5. The next Championship race is Fri 1st 10k Chard Flyer  (SS) 11.00 am